Flora of North America species comparison

buried, usually short, 0.5–5 mm;

hyalodermis absent, sclerodermis absent, central strand present, distinct;

axillary hairs ca. 7 cells in length, all hyaline or proximal 1–2 cells brown.

with distal lamina smooth or rarely papilose;

awn smooth or rarely with a few teeth;

lamellae 8–16 cells in height, not lobed, seldom bearing filaments.

appressed when dry, weakly spreading when moist; ovate to ligulate, adaxial surface broadly concave, 2–3.5 mm (inclusive of the 1.5–2 mm awn);

base not differentiated in shape;

distal margins weakly to broadly incurved to near apex, plane below, entire or denticulate above;

apex obtuse to rounded, often weakly cucullate;

costa long-excurrent as a smooth or denticulate, hyaline awn, occasionally absent in some leaves, adaxial outgrowths of (0–)3–4 lamellae longitudinally inserted on adaxial surface of costa, ca. 12 cells in height, occasionally lobed or branching, smooth or hollow-papillose, adaxial cells (differentiated as lamellae) in 4–6 rows;

transverse section circular, adaxial epidermis apparently absent, adaxial stereid band absent, guide cells 2 in 1 layer, hydroid strand present, usually large, abaxial stereid band present, often weak and round to elliptic in section, abaxial epidermis present;

proximal cells differentiated across leaf base, occasionally higher medially, rectangular, little wider than the distal cells or somewhat inflated, ca. 2–5:1, walls of basal cells thin;

distal medial cells quadrate to shortly rectangular, often transversely elongated, 10–13(–20) µm wide, (2–)1:1(–2), 1-stratose;

papillae absent or small, simple, solid or hollow and present abaxially and medially, 2–3 per lumen, cell walls thin to weakly thickened and weakly trigonous, flat or somewhat bulging on both sides or just abaxially.

0.4-3.5 mm.

autoicous or paroicous.

stegocarpous, emergent to exerted, ovoid, annulus present, operculum cells in straight rows; eperistomate.

stegocarpous or rarely cleistocarpous, theca short-cylindric, often macrostomous, variously smooth, sulcate or ridged, 0.5–1.5 mm, annulus when present of ca. 3 rows somewhat vesiculose cells;

operculum rostrate to conic-rostrate;

peristome teeth absent or when present rudimentary, in a latticework borne on a membrane, weakly twisted, teeth to 300 µm.

cucullate or rarely mitrate.

cucullate or mitrate with 3–4 large lobes.

25-38 µm.

asexual reproduction absent.

terminal, interior leaves not sheathing, elliptic, little differentiated, to 1.5 mm.

distal laminal color reaction yellow, occasionally red or orange in spots medially near apex or at leaf base.